


Benevolent Dictator

by Renja_Cae (orphan_account)



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-12 10:55:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7931962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Renja_Cae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras hasn't aged in 481 years through careful managing of the timelessness of an unfulfilled soul bond. Realizing he is wiser than the government he used honeyed words to gain power and become the supreme ruler of the world establishing a utopia based on the murder of his soulmate to maintain his immortality. Grantaire is his latest soulmate, will he survive the ruthless dictator's plan to murder him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's For Your own Good

The people were rebelling. Again. Enjolras walked away from the window overlooking the angry crowd. His security was keeping them far from the building and ensuring none of the more violent protesters could attack. He ran a hand through his curls and wondered, not for the first time, why the people refused to be happy. He gave them everything they could want and still he was despised. Around his 200th birthday he had gotten into office with a very successful coup. Back when the people didn’t worry about how long he had lived without aging. Then again there was also no record of Enjolras back then as he hadn't done any worthwhile in his first 180 years of life.  
To think that then he had wanted nothing more than to equalize homosexual, platonic, and interracial soulbonds when he had seized power. Once in power he had realized he needed to change most of the government policies as they stifled the people. He started slow and really the people didn’t notice till the 50 year mark of his joyous reign had come around and he hadn’t aged a day.  


He then received his heart’s desire as the people united in support of all soulbonds, unfortunately they had united against the unbonded, a group he steadfastly belonged to. The people had started growing angry. They wanted a new leader.  


A ridiculous idea! Enjolras was the best they could possibly hope for, he gave them so much freedom and all he asked was that they respect his wish to be unbonded. They had parliaments and he insured their human rights were respected, but still they wanted more. They were fools, the lot of them. If he let them choose they would choose wrong. He already had his hands full cleaning up after their problematic parliament representatives. The number of times they had tried to pass laws that marginalized different minorities was astounding. Thank goodness he could shoot down their obvious grabs for power. Without him the people would be oppressed. Didn't they know he was protecting them?  


Now he knew he wasn’t perfect. He was just better. Yes he had killed a few people in his 500 years but it had been necessary. And really most of them were his soulmate, an annoyance that kept cropping up. Enjolras had to wonder if he would ever be freed from the worry that he would grow old and leave the people in the hands of some greedy politician. He couldn’t walk outside unprotected because he would be attacked by some bond radical or he would be bombarded by people who hoped to be his soulmate. Some wanted his power, others would “sacrifice” themselves to end his rule. As if he would be that clumsy as find his bond by accident. No, he kept very close watch for his other half. Luckily the reincarnations never remembered previous lives. Enjolras could easily convince the idiot to meet him quietly claiming he wanted to keep him safe, as he had finally found his love after so many decades, and his soulmate, always the hopeless romantic, would fall for it and die quickly and quietly.  


Sometimes Enjolras wondered if he was doing the right thing, then he would remember the horrors that took place before his rule and bury his guilt. He wasn’t hurting anyone really. Soulmates had first claim to avenging their mate’s death so he was just choosing not to punish himself. But it was hard sometimes to remind himself that he didn’t need love especially with Courf...  
The door to Enjolras’ office flew open interrupting his train of thought. “Enjolras! We need you on air now!”  
“Speak of the devil” Enjolras murmured to himself.  
“What was that?” Courf asked.  
“Ah, nothing” Enjolras replied to the veritable ball of energy made human waiting expectantly by the office door. “What would I be doing on air?”  


“Reasserting law and order of course.” his public liaison gave a little eye roll with this, as if Enjolras was actually unsure. Enjolras had been through far more protests than Courf and knew how to mollify the people. But that was Enj, always letting people feel like they were doing their jobs even if he could have done a better job.  
Courf thought it was such a shame that Enjolras hadn’t found his soulmate yet, however he wouldn’t want that status to change. It made him feel guilty to be happy his friend was alone but he thought of the greater picture and how much the world needed Enj.  
“We have all the major news channels standing by for your address” Courf informed Enjolras.  
“Very good, I’ll come immediately then” Enjolras walked by Courf straightening his signature red coat and tie ensemble. The next hour passed in a blur as Courf ensured all the news channels were seated and ready for the press conference, the in house lighting was set to flatter Enjolras and all the little things he thought should be done by himself to make sure the address went without a hitch.  


Honestly he didn’t even really hear Enj speak. But by the reporters’ reactions he had given a powerful speech, as always. Courf didn’t know how he always had an original speech prepared, and memorized, that fit the situation perfectly. Enjolras refused to pass that responsibility to anyone else, or to share the secret to his success.  
Courf glanced out the window shortly after the address was finished and saw the riot crews were almost finished cleaning up the rabble. Really how could the people be so unfaithful to their generous leader. They should be kneeling at his feet and singing praises to the godly being that was Enjolras. Instead they rioted outside his office. Ungrateful scum. If the police happened to break a few of them it was just as well, after all what Enjolras didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.


	2. Cold But Not Unfeeling

Soul mates were actually quite a small portion of the population.Too many had missed their chance to meet in enough incarnations that their souls did not recognize the call of their other half and the body would age naturally, not stopping at eighteen to allow the bodies to find each other. But if a person didn't mind loneliness and took extreme care not to die they could create a type of immortality. As long as one half lived the connection survived. This immortality went out the window as soon as the pair met and lived around each other for a month. Why a month Enjolras wasn't sure but that was a closely guarded secret of his. Soul bonding wasn’t instantaneous which was why he had no fear of a brief encounter on the street leading to his body aging and old age killing him as surely as a bullet.

He had the added advantage of enough years recognizing the presence of his soul mate that he could eliminate the threat to his rule fairly quickly. This was an acquired skill and it was only by blind luck that he hadn’t accidently bonded. Not that he wouldn't notice, the cry of a soul meeting its fellow could hardly go unnoticed, and the euphoria of the moment lasted through the first month in such a way that Enjorlas was really the only person not to spend a month with his soulmate when they met. His euphoria was followed with bitter self hatred as his soul rejected the evil body that would kill his other half. However the regrets would fade in the end of the month so no real harm was done except that in the month he was basically a vegetable, unable to run the country, so he had to plan carefully when he would get rid of his soulmate. He moved often “for security purposes” and to ensure that should his soulmate move into his radius of bonding or heavens forbid be born in the area he could move and plan for when to eliminate the blight on his otherwise perfect rule. Sure it was sometimes hard to stare into the innocent eyes of an orphaned child as he killed them but it was necessary. Often Enjolras would wait until the child had been sullied by the world and so he felt less remorse as he stabbed them through the heart, but more and more he had to act quickly because despite the programs he had created to allow soulmates to meet, pairs were dying out and it was becoming obvious who could be Enjolras’ other half by gathering the people who had stopped aging. 

Enjolras shook himself out of those brooding thoughts and returned to the present. But it was hard to focus when the papers he was reading were so dull. Transcriptions of meeting he couldn't attend and proposals written by snakes who thought he would notice a hidden barb in a seemly innocent clause that would ruin the government’s perfection. Did they think he was an idiot who wouldn't notice. These worthless time wasters were the bane of organized government and tried his patience sorely. He sighed as he veto yet another proposal that took away the right of abortions in a completely unrelated clause. He shifted the reject into a startlingly high pile of its fellows, and this after his staff had discarded the blatant machinations. 

He couldn’t imagine going through another disappointing document without losing his temper and punishing the fool who thought he could get away with tricking Enjolras. So instead he switch to searching the web for groups that could someday prove to be a danger. Sometimes he even wrote his own naysaying articles that would spark intense debates. How silly that no one seemed to notice how superficial the issues he brought up were, however the people were often satisfied for a time after the government listened and the changes they wanted were made. The rabid public was a tool he often used to convince officials to enact change without Enjolras having to light a fire under them. No the blaze of popular opinion was a fire he much preferred to light. And when he guided the mob the fire was purifying and righteous, it was also the secret to how he had the perfect rebuttal to the rebellions that got out of control. He was amused to see that quite a few of his newer aliases had gained an underground following. It said much about the public that they rallied to the names with the least fact to back them. The words they spoke were pretty but stupid and self-satisfied with the slightest win. The more levelheaded and sound arguments to enact serious change were ignored. Just the nature of the masses to ignore truths in the search of petty revenge. He shook his head as he thought of how sure he had been of the inherent good in people before he became the world’s leader at his simple naivety had been thrown in his face by the ungrateful public. 

He composed another entry riddled with self-contradictory statements and logged off his stomach twisting in distaste and his argument was parroted across the web. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was getting late and if he didn’t go to dinner soon Combeferre would come to drag him dinner. He smiled as he thought about the quiet man who had bonded with Courfeyrac. 

Their relationship had been a project of Enjolras’, he had needed trustworthy assistants and all those good feelings left over from bonding made a perfect state of mind to persuade someone that Enjorlas was the only rightful leader. And bonded pairs were often the most sympathetic to the cause. He almost regretted having allowed the two to meet however, they had become his closest friends and he would have liked to have them by his side throughout the eternities. But that was the cost of good help it seems and either way he was late to dinner. He stood and left the room in a hurry, his family was waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Fair warning, this is not going to be a happy story and not in the "lol I'm so edgy and cool" kind of way (unless that's how you read it, each his own) But as you probably saw in the first chapter Enjolras is a murderer and there most likely will not be a happy resolution to the ExR ship cuz Enjolras does not want to bond. Just gonna say sorry now  
> Anywho if you feel so inclined leave kudos and comments. It's the only way we can get the monkey to sit at its typewriter:)


	3. How Ironic

Enjorlas had grown complacent. He had been governing for so long that it would be impossible for him not to. However his complacency was still rather controlling but the point was he had relaxed, and for a man with his power that was dangerous.  


His mistake was a simple one. He always cleaned off his desk before he left the room, Ferre and Courf knew this because they had been working for him for quite sometime. So when Enjorlas left quickly and forgotten to put The Book,his record of past soulmates, away, it was out of the ordinary. By the time he remembered he had decided not to go back, no one would dare go into his study without his permission. Ferre unfortunately, was quite used to going in the study to pick up Enjorlas and that night he saw a book out on the table. He obviously didn't have the codes to the safes Enjorlas usually put his books but sticking it in a drawer would be better than leaving it out. Combeferre was sure Enjorlas would want him to. If Enjorlas hadn’t racked up such an enormous karmic debt it might have been just a book of military secrets but his luck was far worse.

Ferre hadn’t been planning on reading the book but as he went to grab it a name caught his eye. It was the name of a boy who had been all over the news when Ferre was young, an unfulfilled soul bond holder. His parents had kept close watch on him constantly reminding him of the possibility of someone killing him in the same way. No one had doubted that the killer had targeted the boy because of his soulbond. It was one of the defining moments of ferre’s childhood and the reason he had wanted so desperately to work for the government. He remembered watching in awe as Enjorlas had spoken powerfully of the renewed protections of soulbond holders and how the fight to keep all holders safe was still being fought. 

Combeferre didn’t know why Enjorlas would have the dead boy's name, picture and birthdate in one of his official journals. He knew he shouldn’t pry but he had to know. He flipped back a few pages and recognized another name from a book he had read about soulbond related crimes in his highschool years. And then another and another. Were these all names of murdered soul bond holders? Sick dread fill Combeferre’s stomach as he realized what this book was for. 

He didn’t want to believe Enjolras would do something like this but… What else could it be? He put the book back on the table and flipped back to the page it had been open to, he didn't want Enjorlas to know he had seen the book. But he flipped just a bit too far and saw an entry he didn’t recognize, for a boy named Pierre Grantaire, with a birthdate just shy of 19 years ago. The picture looked recent and it was obviously taken without the boy,no, man’s knowledge. Ferre wondered what had happened to him, was he lying dead unremembered somewhere in a lonely grave. The media hadn’t reported on his death but He wasn't white and he definitely wasn't rich going by his clothes. The only person who would miss him was his soulmate. But judging from the other entries they hadn't met. That was probably the worst part, no one cared whether this Pierre lived or died but Enjolras, and Enjolras did not have the tenderest heart. 

Combeferre knew why he did this, kept this record of failure. It was just like Enjolras to think that he could eliminate every problem. But Ferre knew it wasn't right and definitely not healthy to remember all these people. Not when Enjolras had a far more important job to do, that could not be done by any other. Let humanity remember the fallen soulmates, because Enjorlas could not do it all. 

Combeferre smoothed the book open to the right page and quietly left the room, thinking to himself how unreasonable it was that Enjorlas blamed himself for the death of every soulmate killed by twisted monsters who didn’t understand the beauty of soulmates. It was hardly his fault they died, it's not like Enjolras had them killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No R isn't dead  
> Also introducing: Random French given name. And yeah sorry for the short chapters but that's how I write *shrugs*  
> Please let me know what you think!


End file.
